There was something there, he knew this now; there was something beyond the barrier of the void. The details were too complicated for his brain to process. There were shapes and colors he had never seen before. Beyond that, he could hear things too. Someone was always saying something. If he put his ear up to the barrier, he could make out some of the words.

'Who started playing without me?! What happened to multiplayer?! Don't make me tell mom!' The young, male voice shouted with a hint of exasperation.

Who was that, beyond the void? And why was he stuck behind it?

…

The red-headed hero charged through the shadowy alleyways of the neighborhood, desperately trying to keep up with the little girl with the blindfold. Every time she turned a corner, thinking she had finally caught her, the girl was already so far ahead of her. Her small figure never stopped or turned around to ensure she was still on her tail; she just kept running away.

Kendo called out for her to slow down and explain. Who was she? How did she know Peter? Why was she helping her find him? How did she even know where he was? Could she even see where she was going while wearing that blindfold? Nothing made sense, but now was not the time to care.

Finally, Kendo halted when the little girl froze at the exit of the alleyway and put her hand up, telling her to stop.

She looked onto the street ahead of her, where dozens of police vehicles were parked. Around those vehicles were officers and various pro heroes, all on standby. The area was being blocked off rather quickly as citizens were quietly shooed away. The scene reminded her so much of the assault on Lumina's home.

"Is this it?" Kendo asked.

"Yes," Said the little girl, "Peter is in the basement of the abandoned bar."

Kendo sighed with relief, "Then I guess I came here for nothing. If this many pro's are here, then they'll rescue him in no time…"

"They won't," the girl said sternly, "That's why you're here."

"What do you mean?"

She points at the building, "When they make a move on the building, the villains will retaliate with an army of nomu, distracting each of the heroes. They'll be completely led away from rescuing Peter with their focus divided. That's why you have to go inside during the chaos and free him."

After digesting the information, she asked again "Who are you? How do you know Peter?"

"He saved me," She smiled, "and my name is Cassie. Spider-Man and I are connected."

"Meaning?"

Cassie shushed her, making her watch the scene unfold.

…

With the heroes surrounding the building and waiting for their orders, a few of them became antsy. Mirko was standing a little further back, her feet tapping in impatience. It was annoying to those around her as her toes were covered in steel.

She wanted to jump in there right then and there instead of waiting for All Might and the others to make the first move. Peter was in here; she could just feel it. He needed her and there was nothing else she could do but wait. This is why she hated working with others; she didn't like waiting behind a bunch of slow pokes before getting anything done.

"You're shaking the ground," Endeavor said as he approached the rabbit hero from the side, "you're going to give us away if you keep doing that."

"We should already be in there," She stated, "why are we waiting?"

"According to the police chief, not everyone in the area is evacuated, yet."

"You're saying your not impatient?"

"I hadn't said that."

SWAT teams began to invade the building quietly as not to alert the targets inside. All Might and others positioned themselves on the roof across from the top floor of the building, where the abandoned bar was located. The operation was about to begin.

"If Venom is in there," Endeavor suggested, "If we have to fight him, you should take the main approach as I weaken him from the side with walls of fire. Trapping him in an arena with you may be our best move."

"That actually sounds smart," She grinned, "Since when do you do smart?"

He was silent for a moment, which was odd to her. Normally, he always had something to say in order to protect his pride, yet he wasn't bothering this time. What was going on in that thick head of his?

…

"Kurogiri, Compress," Said the villain, "make him go to sleep again."

Tomura Shigaraki—leader of the League of Villains—sat before the young U.A student, Katsuki Bakugo. Other villains were lingering around the bar as the conversation was had. The villain had offered Bakugo to join them in their crusade. It wasn't that far fetched, in his mind; the boy showed rage and darkness during the Sports Festival that he thought he could use to cripple the hero system.

Yet, when he offered this chance, the boy rejected him with a poisonous tone. Despite the anger he held, he would not budge from his heroic morality, much to Tomura's disappointment. His master had already informed him that the talk with Parker had gone such a way, as well.

How could these children be so stuck to these pathetic morals?

"I can't believe he's such a bad listener," Said a villain, known as Compress, "I'm almost impressed."

"If you want me to listen to you, then get on your knees and die!" Shouted Bakugo, projecting a rather arrogant persona. Inside though, he knew escape was going to be hard, if not impossible with so many villains eying him.

Eddie Brock sat in the back, watching the scene unfold. He'd met kids like that in his time as a reporter and knew from the start that he wouldn't budge. Still, Tomura wanted to try, anyway. You can't force someone to become a villain; society has a way of doing that naturally, anyway.

As expected, said the voice in Eddie's head, he would not yield is ideals.

"Told you," Eddie said.

There was a sudden knock on the door, claiming to be delivering a pizza. That alone was already a red flag considering how this place was supposed to be a secret. No one moved from their spots, not even Bakugo, purely out of confusion. Either someone was stupid enough to order a pizza to this place—suspects already come to mind for Shigaraki—or something else was afoot.

The wall suddenly collapsed inward as silhouetted figures burst through. A patriotic superhero left the charge with his fist forward, commanding the others behind him.

As the dust cleared enough, the leading man was revealed to be All Might himself.

Before any of the villains to move to make an escape, Kamui Woods leapt through behind number 1 and extended his roots, bringing as many villains into his wooden binding as he could. Eddie was quickly able to change into Venom and avoid the roots, swatting them away with his super strength.

Before he could act, however, a blinding blur of white and yellow sped through the room, bouncing off Venoms face and dazing him, enough so that he too could be captured by the roots. Then, the pro hero zoomed toward another villain who attempted to use fire to break free, only to be near knocked unconscious.

"You can't run anymore, League of Villains!" All Might declared, "Why? Because we are here!"

Venom tried to regain his composure. That attack from the veteran pro hero had dazed him so bad that his form had shrunk, closer to Eddies true size and build. They knew to immobilize the heavy hitters first to ensure their capture. Superheroes on this world were far more coordinated than back home, he thought.

We must break free said the symbiote.

"We can't," He admitted, " …I …we can't think straight."

We'll heal ourselves in a mere moment. We sense something else is coming to even the odds. The air feels …different.

As Shigaraki was seemingly throwing a tantrum over the setback, two clouds of sporadic grey and black energy formed to both sides of him, much to his own surprise. Slowly coming out of the small portals were powerful, wild creatures; the nomu.

More and more small portals formed around the bar as nomu began to come through. One portal, however, opened right on top of Katsuki Bakugo and completely absorbed him. All Might tried to save him, but the boy was gone right before his eyes. He could only release a blood curdling scream of denial.

Finally regaining his strength, Venom returned to normal size and broke free of Kamui's hold, moving before one of the mysterious portals could take him too. Wherever they were coming from, he wanted no part of it. He leapt up and crashed through the roof of the bar and extended his tendrils to swing down onto the street.

Kamui Woods tried to call Endeavor for backup, only to see the true extension of the situation.

Black portals opened all across the street, overcoming the various pro heroes with enemy nomu. They emerged from the liquid gateways and immediately began their attack, overwhelming the authorities who had no choice but to retreat so the pro's could move freely.

Mirko cursed as she was pushed back-to-back with Endeavor. They became surrounded by the creatures quickly. When she noticed Venom trying to flee, Mirko tried to run after him, but the Nomu were in the way.

"We gotta push through!" She said to Endeavor, "I'm gonna make it rumble! Ready to rain down fire?"

"Gladly," He agreed.

As if rehearsed, Mirko began to stomp her steel feet like a whining child, shaking the ground beneath her and throwing everyone off balance, Nomu included. With the monsters stumbling back from the duo, Endeavor raised his hands high and created a spiral of flames that rained down on their opponents, burning their skin and pushing them back.

With the Nomu occupied, Mirko was finally able to leap into the air and chase after Venom.

…

Kendo watched the entire scene unfold with great concern. She wanted to do something to help, but knew that if any of the pro's saw her fight, they would surely try to arrest her. Being a pro hero was still her dream and she didn't want to compromise that. Yet, here she was, trying to bend the rules.

As the nomu began to clear out, being chased and battled by the various pro heroes, a clear path to the bar revealed itself.

"Go," said Cassie, "Now."

Kendo turned around to face Cassie, but she had suddenly disappeared. Her voice still echoed in her mind but her body was missing. As much as she wanted to look for her, it was as though a silent hand pushed Kendo forward onto the emptying street.

With stumbling feet, Kendo ran onto the street. No one paid much attention to her, which worked in her favor as she reached the other side of the street. A flying nomu was knocked out of the sky just as she made it to the door and came crashing toward her. She managed to get inside just before it collided with the wall and cratered it.

Kendo fell to her knees from the impact, safe for the moment within the building. She took a moment to catch her breath.

Again, she questioned the safety of the situation. Cassie claimed Kendo had to be here or Peter would never be rescued, but how could she trust that? She didn't know this little girl; she could have been manipulating her for all she knew. Yet, that string tied to her heart was pulling her in this direction; toward Peter.

"Keep going," Cassie's voice echoed.

Kendo looked behind her to find the voice, instead finding the door that led to the basement.

The door was old and rusted but she managed to break through easily with her quirk. The stairs were steep and dark, with most of the buildings power routed to the top floor. She could feel the rumblings of the battles happening above her; they were strong enough to drop dust from the cracks in the ceiling. Though the sounds were muffled, they sounded so close.

Finally, she found the basement, which was a long hallway of other doors. They were likely once used to store alcohol, but the villains repurposed it into some kind of makeshift prison.

There were so many doors; where was she supposed to start?

Hidden behind one of the doors was Peter Parker, still strapped to the wall and rendered immobile. He had been fading in and out of consciousness from the lack of proper sleep. Something had woken him, though. It wasn't quite his spider-sense, but it was a feeling digging into his mind. Where his spider-sense warned him of danger, this specific feeling was informing him of safety.

Somehow, in a way he still couldn't explain, he knew the safety's name.

"Itsuka?" He called out on a hunch.

Kendo immediately called back to him, "Peter?! Where are you?!"

"Over here!"

Following his voice, she pulled open the large metal door that stood between them, flinging it wide and rushing to him as her fists shrunk, "Peter! I found you!"

"What are you doing here?" He asked, with a hint of laughter in his voice, "How did you find me?"

"I …I'm not sure," She said, "How did you know I was here?"

"I don't know, either."

"Are there any keys to these things?"

"Not that I could see," He paused to look into her eyes, "You came all this way … for me?"

"I know, I know, it was dangerous and stupid and exactly something you would do which is why it was dumb, but …" she took off her vigilante mask, "I wasn't going to let you get taken away from me again. I …I love you."

He could have scolded her for putting herself in harms way; coming here without a license and risking everything she had. Yet, seeing her sparkling blue eyes and alluring smile, he just didn't have the heart for it, "I love you, too."

She blushed before quickly shaking it away to focus on the task before her, "Okay, any idea's on how to get you out?"

"The restrains are made of some strong stuff; maybe vibranium. My super strength can't bust through it, and I'm still feeling a little weak. They might have drugged me or something …"

"There's gotta be someway to jump-start your strength. You should at least be able to break the cuffs off the wall."

The keyword in that sentence hit him, alongside another terrible idea, "Hit me."

"What?"

"Enlarge your fist and hit me as hard as you can."

"…are you still drugged-up?"

"Itsuka," he said sternly, "trust me."

They were like trigger words— not just in the words themselves, but in the way he said them. It had taken so long for the trust between them to be built, to believe in the other despite any evidence against it. All it took was a single request, and she'd follow him into any battle, any war, any life.

With only a moment of hesitation, she enlarged her fist, drew back her foot, and lunged at him.

Her fist connected with his chest. She had struck him with everything she had. Panic swooped over her quickly when she heard the cracking of bones, from which he let out a powerful grunt of pain. The sensations rippled through his body, reaching every inch of his limbs. The bones in his chest had cracked and even broken, and could have punctured his lungs under different circumstances.

Instead, almost immediately after she backed away from him and lowered her quirk, Peter's body began to glow blue, just like it had back in the forest. Another set of cracking was heard, but this time it was different. His chests spasmed for a moment as the bones realigned and healed themselves. His eyes illuminated with an unknown power, making the bangs of his hair float just a little.

With one swift movement, he pulled his limbs from the wall and completely shattered the cuffs. The metal fell to the ground, hovering a moment before making touchdown. He landed on his feet but immediately tripped and fell into Kendo's arms. She could feel the energy from his body caressing her skin like a blissful lover.

"How did you do that?" She asked, "That energy … like the camp…?"

"I'm not really sure, honestly," He answered, trying to catch his breath as the energy vanished from him, "It kind of just started happening, recently, after I met this little girl."

"Little girl?" She questioned, a hunch building in her head, "Red hair? Blindfold? Hoodie too big for her?"

He looked at her in surprise, "Yeah …how did you …did you meet Cassie?"

"She's the one that led me here, I think. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

"Where is she, now?"

"No idea. She disappeared."

"Yeah …she does that."

He tried to stand on his own, but the side effect of his new power kicked in and locked up many of his muscles. He asked for her help, and Kendo wrapped his arm over her shoulder as she began carrying him out of the villain's prison, grabbing his mask on the way out.

The rumbling hadn't stopped when they reached the surface. Extra holes had been added to the walls of the bar, which the duo was able to pass through rather than use the door. Fire and destruction were spread out everywhere and many epic battles were held all over the district. Every battle was a story, and he felt shamed he couldn't read them all.

"I'm okay, now," He said as he shook away the pain in his limbs, "Every time I use my new power, my muscles lock up for a bit …I have to help the others, now."

"How do you know you're not still too weak to fight?" She asked, "The Pro heroes have fought the nomu before, they can handle this. We need to get you somewhere safe."

He gave her one focused look, one full of stubbornness and determination, and her argument crumbled.

"Damn you …" She folded, "What do we do?"

"If the heroes see you fighting, even masked, you could be arrested," He explained, "You need to hide until this is over."

"I came all this way for you!"

"I know," he held her shoulders, "And I want you to fight with me, but there are too many heroes around and I'm on thin ice as it is. Don't leave, just …stick to the shadows."

She knew this time that his request wasn't out of some desire for a lone crusade. He really did want her to stay and fight with him, knowing she was more than capable of keeping herself safe. This wasn't about that, however. Things were far more fragile than he would like and they both had to accept that.

Taking a risk of confidence, he kissed her deeply, holding her cheek with his gloved hand. He wished he could just stay in that moment with his lips against hers, but the call of responsibility was beckoning.

"I love you, Itsuka," He said, "I'll find you when this is over."

"…I love you, Peter."

With a warm smile, he put on his mask and swung away, leaving the young vigilante alone in the scattered destruction.

…

It wasn't often Mirko had a hard time keeping up. She could leap buildings in a single bound, and that usually gave her an advantage. Venom, though, was capable of the same feats, and gave her quite the chase as a result.

Venom knew that she was gaining on him. As much strength as the symbiote gave him, her quirk could rival it easily. Continuing to run would only result in a fight, anyway, so he might as well cut to the chase.

The monster landed on the street and cracked the ground beneath his toes before turning around with his fist wound back. Mirko had little time to react as her body came crashing toward him. All she could do was lift her foot up for a kick, which collided with Venoms fist and released a powerful shockwave that shattered nearby windows, and setting off several car alarms.

With her still in the air, Venom threw his other fist and struck her in the stomach, which sent her flying backwards. Mirko recovered quickly by flipping backwards and landing on her feet with her chest pointed to the ground. She launched forward like a spring and threw another set of kicks his way, which he took with much resistance.

He managed to catch one of her feet and toss her aside. She quickly recovered and remained in a defensive position.

"Why won't you just leave us alone?!" Venom shouted, "You heroes are so clingy!"

"And you villains are delusional," She retorted, "I ain't here for you, Brock. I'm here for that pile of goop stuck to your back!"

"Stuck? We are not stuck! We are Venom!"

"Keep telling yourself that— literally."

"Why are you so persistent, little rabbit?"

"Stubborn, persistent; thin line, really."

"There is nothing of us to save!"

"Your constant whining says otherwise."

She had to take him down, fast, so she could find Peter and bring this night to an end.

Before either of them could move, fire began to rain down around them. A ring of fire began to form and trap the two opponents together in a small space. Venom wanted to try and escape, but as he tried to jump away, he was blasted back down by a ball of ember.

That's when they finally noticed Endeavor, who stood atop a nearby building with his arms extended toward them, and a grin on his scorching skin. A few bruises were left on his body from fighting the Nomu, but he had eventually broken through.

The symbiote atop Eddies body began to weaken from the heat of the makeshift fighting ring. Strings of the living parasite hovered off his back as they struggled to stay in symbiosis.

"The kid was right," Mirko smirked, "You really don't like campfires, do ya'?"

Venom roared powerfully in retaliation, trying to keep his melting body together. The heroes covered their ears to stop the pain.

The screech, unique in its sound, was familiar enough to those around them.

One by one, the large and powerful nomu of various shapes began to surround the street they fought on. They snickered and screamed, gathering around the ring of fire they could not yet pass. Endeavor tried to raise the wall of ember to keep them back, which only worked so well as more Nomu began to climb the roof.

Venom was just as confused as to how the nomu responded to him. They were all monsters, in one way or another. Still, he didn't call for any kind of help.

Or did he?

"Endeavor!" Mirko called out, "Keep them back!"

"I'm trying!" he yelled back, "They keep coming! I need to rain hellfire!"

"You do that, and any civilians in the area will die, too!"

It would have been so easy to just scorch the earth around them. Such a feat was not impossible for him with his kind of power, but she was also right; not everyone had been evacuated from this part of the city. They had only emptied the street which the bar rested on. By now, they were well beyond that perimeter.

They were trapped.

Suddenly, a shockwave of dust was released from the ground just beyond the ring of ember as something came crashing down onto the nomu. The other monsters jumped back in surprise, ready to pounce at whatever was within the dust cloud. Even Mirko and Venom looked back to see the arrival of the new player.

"Hey!" Shouted Spider-Man as he stood atop an unconscious nomu, "Who started playing without me?! What happened to multiplayer?! Don't make me tell mom!"